Monday, December 10, 2012

A recent industry
event, “Social Media in Sports and How its Changing the Game,” shared social
media tips we can all use to go pro—even if it’s not in sports.

Panelists
included specialists from the NFL Players Association, which happens to be
PCG’s upstairs neighbor.

Lessons from the pros:

Establish
a social media policy for your “players"

The major leagues have official social
media policies. Social media guidelines are among the topics covered in rookie
symposiums. Have a social media policy for your organization, and make it a
topic of discussion.

Keep it
organic

The best social media comes from the
source. “Fans” can tell the difference between what is scripted and what comes directly
from the players. This also applies to philanthropic efforts, which have a
greater impact when the cause has personal importance.

Negativity
is part of the conversation

Athletes are
often advised to ignore negative comments on social media, as criticism frequently
comes from users with little social media influence. “It doesn’t matter if they
tweet it to their two followers,” by responding to it, you’re bringing the
issue to light for all of your followers.

If you
don’t control your message, someone else will

During the
recent NFL lockout, social media was a game-changer. At first, the public
largely viewed the lockout as a player-driven strike. Posting pictures and
videos of players literally locked out of their facilities, the NFL Players
Association was able to use the storytelling capabilities of social media to
correct this misconception. Use the storytelling capabilities of social media
to tell your story.